THIS INVENTION relates to a dehusking apparatus. In particular, the invention concerns an apparatus for dehusking macadamia nuts.
The invention will be described by way of example with reference to an apparatus for dehusking macadamia nuts. It should be appreciated that this description in relation to macadamia nuts is by example only, and that the apparatus of the invention may also be used for removing the husk, shell, casing, skin, peel or the like from other produce.
Australian patent specification 22762/92 discloses an apparatus for removing the covering from produce. The apparatus has an auger for conveying nuts through it and past spring biased pivotal toothed arms which engage the nuts and tear the husk from the nut. The husk so removed falls through a gap between a side plate and the auger, while the dehusked nuts are ejected by the auger and collected in a bin at one end of the auger.
The maximum size of produce that can be accommodated by this apparatus depends upon the degree to which the arms may move away from the auger. The apparatus does not function effectively if fed with produce of differing size. Larger produce tends to shepherd the smaller produce through the apparatus. This known apparatus has a large number of moving parts, is noisy in use, does not effectively separate husks and trash from the produce and is easily jammed. The drive parts of this apparatus cannot readily be reversed to clear blockages and generally disassembly and re-assembly is the only effective way in which a blockage may be cleared.
This known apparatus does not have a sufficiently high throughput and the presence of foreign objects tends to cause jamming of the apparatus.